gut strings and an Erard piano from around 1885 help to create the welcome impression that we are in a Parisian salon, listening up close. The Erard has a rich, woody depth of tone; play no louder than a whisper yet without losing eloquence is surely facilitated by the gentle plangency of her strings.

[Chausson] Faust and the quartet…conjures and maintains a spellbinding, moonlit atmosphere. [Franck] equally impressive…[Faust] finds intense expressivity in restraint and emotional directness.

Faust and Melnikov are utterly spellbinding. It might not be quite like any performance you’ve heard of the Franck sonata before, but that makes it all the more welcome; a genuine delight.

The A major Violin Sonata (1886) is his most frequently recorded work, but few performers have reached into its incandescent erotic passion as this duo do here. The piano part is famously virtuosic, but Melnikov, an established soloist as well as Faust’s regular partner, makes light of its difficulties … They are joined by the young Salagon Quartet in the undeservedly less familiar Chausson concerto — another heady French chamber work under the influence of “Wagnerisme”. The rising intensity of the trés animé finale is almost indecent, as Mme Franck might have said

few performers have reached into [the Franck's] incandescent erotic passion as this duo do here. The piano part is famously virtuosic, but Melnikov, an established soloist as well as Faust’s regular partner, makes light of its difficulties. Their vision of the piece and its turbulent emotions is grand in scale, almost operatic.

this disc is an absolute keeper; it’s sensational … it’s hard to imagine that Ysaÿe could have done better